The Democratic Papers contains rich, challenging and exciting analyses of the future of governance in Europe and beyond. Twenty-three contributors from twelve countries take a penetrating look at real issues that matter to real people all over the world, aiming to help shape new debates about what democracy can and should mean, and how we can meet its demands. We want you to respond to these views - we look forward to hearing from Europeans, Middle Easterners, Americans, Africans, Asians and others about your visions of democracy. The Democratic Papers is your conversation.
Democracy has always meant different things to different people. It is a question of culture and of politics, of feelings and processes as well as institutions. While its banner is carried into action around the world, for many its sense is fogged or devalued. Nor can democratic innovation be neglected at home if the bonds are not to fail between us and our leaders, our institutions, and even our neighbours.
The Project so far
Over the last two years, we have brought together a unique group of people through new media, seminars and debates. The process has involved almost seventy people from seventeen countries: political leaders and advisers, researchers in think-tanks and academia, business professionals, journalists, social entrepreneurs and activists. Pooling unconventional and inspirational vantage-points, we agreed to explore democracy’s ‘blue skies’ together. The discussions have ranged from global governance to the civic culture of cities, from the dynamics of migration to the future of political parties. The Democratic Papers is the result - demanding what the wider future holds for democracy, both after the Constitution and beyond Europe’s shores.
Why now?
The Democratic Papers is conceived in the spirit of the pamphleteering age of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries – an age of ferment, invention, revolution and counter-revolution, when governance and civil society were evolving and empires were brewing. We live in a similar interregnum, our foe untamed systemic complexity. We wanted to re-ignite peoples' engagement with democracy - wherever they are from, and whatever their background.
Our Partners
The Democratic Papers is the outcome of a project in partnership between Vision, The British Council Bruxelles, Demos, and OpenDemocracy.net.
Contents - Read The Democratic Papers and then have your say
